Economic Development
The Community Consulting Practicum course engages (preferably) interdisciplinary and cross-college teams of students in community-oriented and project-based research projects. Modeled on the principle that the university campus is truly part of the larger community, this course gives students a unique experiential approach to education and allows the community to draw upon the expertise of Lehigh students as consultants in analyzing problems and formulating policy having to do with economic development and community enhancement. The twin purposes of the course are to provide real-world, team-oriented learning experiences and to provide a resource for local governments, community organizations, and local citizens.
Objectives
Students will participate in the design and execution of a specific research project identified by the instructors and one or more real world clients at the university and at various Lehigh Valley development agencies (see attached sheet for this term’s possible team projects). The course may result in only one or several projects. Criteria for deciding the number of projects will depend on student interest, the interdisciplinarity of team members, and (if there is more than one project) a rough parity in terms of the number of team members. Whatever the particular project, participating students will:
- Improve their skills in unstructured, imaginative, responsive, and responsible decision making and collaborative problem solving – especially the realization that interdisciplinarity and cultural awareness are crucial to creative solutions to human problems;
- Increase their understanding of the processes and problems in regional economic/quality of life development and policy formation, and of the organizations involved;
- Improve their professional oral and written presentation and teamwork skills, learn the art of working effectively and efficiently in relation to a fixed deadline;
- Develop independent abilities to analyze a problem creatively, design appropriate research methodologies, and to perform significant cultural and contextual research;
- Develop independent abilities to create and implement original discursive research and survey instruments, to bring different disciplinary perspectives to bear on the problem, to place technical problems within a broad cultural framework, to statistically analyze original data, to imaginatively interpret and humanistically contextualize quantitative data, and to present the findings strategically and persuasively.
The results of each research-analytical project will be communicated both orally and in a written report to the clients.
TEAM PROJECT #1
Establishing a Lehigh University-Community Southside CreativityLab/Center Clients: Bethlehem’s Office of Economic Development (Tony Hanna, Director and Laura Burtner, Deputy Director), Lehigh’s Office of Community and Regional Affairs (Dale Kochard, Executive Director), and ArtsLehigh (Silagh White, Co-Director).
Description: To produce a practical and compelling business plan for the creation of a non-profit (501-3c) campus-community center, a focused “creativity laboratory,” CreativityLab/ Center,” and/or a “store-front” space in one of the old unutilized buildings on Bethlehem’s south side. The intent would be to create a learning environment that would help enhance the overall quality of community and campus life and to promote cultural and economic activity on Bethlehem’s south side using the creative energies and intellectual-cultural capital of the university and community. This would result in two significant outcomes: 1) it would creatively and experientially involve Lehigh students/faculty/staff/alumni in the cultural and economic life of Bethlehem’s south side community and 2) it would engage students/faculty/ staff/alumni in practical ways of giving back some of their university learning to less advantaged children and citizens in the community. The rationale for such a university-community center stems from the conviction that, in many ways, the “community is the campus.” Truly creative or entrepreneurial learning always involves the interdisciplinary linkage of imagination, analysis, and experience within the “real world” context of one’s local community. Moreover, in a “flat” world that privileges innovation and imagination, aesthetic style and culture, over simple technical expertise there may often be a direct connection between economic revitalization and the “rise of a creative class” and “creative enterprise” within a community (see for example the recent Brookings and Wallace Foundation Reports as well as the work of Richard Florida and the Rural Studio in Alabama). This project is concerned with the collaborative and interdisciplinary production and “selling” of a fully developed “business plan” to create a special Lehigh University student/faculty/staff/alumni “creative enterprise” or “creative engagement” lab dedicated to the mutually beneficial interaction of students with the local community. This could involve such things as, among many possible examples (and it will be important for the team to come up with concrete “products” and contributions to the community), gallery/studio space for student and community artwork, digital design, and Integrated Product Design projects; work space for architectural and design students working in and with the community; student-community collaborative art projects/facade beatification; learning labs for computer, education, sociology, and business school students working with local children (and so on). Collaborative community projects with other educational, arts, and community organizations should be encouraged.
Likely activities include: 1) background research to explore the pros and cons of what other cities and universities have done along these lines; 2) university and community resource assessment, needs surveys, and potential use analyses of Lehigh students, faculty and arts related groups and clubs (very broadly construed), and of community organizations; 3) identification of specific student advantages/”products” and community contributions, 4) investigation of potential real estate sites and zoning issues; 5) space design recommendations; and 6) developing a business plan, including implementation strategy, economic feasibility analysis and exploration of potential funding options.
